


Hearts Sewed Together

by Lafaiette



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Love at First Sight, Sewing, Stuffed Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 12:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6703765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lafaiette/pseuds/Lafaiette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His body and mind know perfectly where the library is. He keeps walking until the familiar golden and green steps appear in his line of vision and he smiles, raising his head to look at the wooden door with original Elven carvings and the elegant sign.</p><p>His face falls.</p><p>The door is still there, but the sign is gone, replaced by a new, modern one.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>‘Clan Lavellan: hand-made stuffed toys and other sewed creations’.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Hearts Sewed Together

There is a small, not-well-known library hidden in an alley of Arbor Wilds Road.

It’s hard to spot, due to its position and modest exterior, but it’s extremely well-stocked, it has the most precious, interesting, and oldest books from ancient Arlathan and its small, comfortable ambient makes Solas feel at home.

It’s the best place to relax at after a long, hard day or simply to find inspiration for his next painting.

Abelas, the chief librarian, is a quiet, somber man with great taste and questionable manners, but he has become somewhat of a friend and always knows what Solas might like to read every time he visits.

He always glares at his hands dirty with paint and ink, though, and Solas hurries to wear the gloves the library offers to the customers to touch and read the oldest books.

He hasn’t gone there for a long time now. He has been busy with his last frescoed panel in his studio and the small organization he leads whenever he can is having some logistic problems. Unless the Eluvians, the main highroad of the city, don’t start working as they should, supplies will be hard to get to the base.

He needs to relax in a familiar, silent place, read some of his favorite volumes and think of a solution. ‘The Well’ is that place and even though its full name - ‘The Well of Sorrows’ - isn’t exactly alluring, it’s where Solas wants to be right now.

He still wonders why Abelas didn’t call it ‘The Well of Knowledge’ or ‘The Well of Wisdom’. Much more fitting for a library and he even pointed that out to the gloomy elf, but Abelas just narrowed his eyes, held his chin up high, and replied solemnly: “Knowledge is pain.”

He can’t really argue with that.

Winter is approaching and his sweater is too light to protect him adequately from the harsh wind. He speeds up, clutching his bag full of art books, pencils, and sketchbooks to his chest, hoping to get some warmth from that.

The sky is getting darker, an ominous black color that doesn’t bode well. A tempest is approaching and people start to run away and lock themselves into their homes or coffee shops, swatting away the posters of Corypheus, the new president candidate, flying all around.

 _“Let’s make Thedas great again!”_ the posters shout with big, bolded letters. Solas kicks one that got stuck to his foot and enters the alley, keeping his head down to push again the rising wind.

His body and mind know perfectly where the library is. He keeps walking until the familiar golden and green steps appear in his line of vision and he smiles, raising his head to look at the wooden door with original Elven carvings and the elegant sign.

His face falls.

The door is still there, but the sign is gone, replaced by a new, modern one.

_‘Clan Lavellan: hand-made stuffed toys and other sewed creations’._

A strangled sound gets stuck in Solas’ throat. Then it becomes a whine, which manages to get out, and he stands there, staring at that unknown, frightening sign like a dog paralyzed with fear.

He observes the alley. Perhaps he remembers it wrong, maybe this shop has opened just a few meters before the library.

But no, the door is the same, he recognizes it, just like the building is the same.

He has to accept it: ‘The Well of Sorrows’ is gone and this… stuffed plushes shop replaced it.

This is not fair. When and how did this happen? Why didn’t Abelas warn him? Is the library currently open somewhere else?

He decides to enter to look for more information. Perhaps whoever runs this place can tell him more.

A small bell rings a cheerful sound when he opens the door. He whines again.

The round tables and the high, long bookshelves are still here, but they have been temporarily moved in a corner: the walls are being repainted and he can see new furniture ready to be used with the old one at the other side of the room.

This is… unnerving. Too different, modern, and unfamiliar.

There are many boxes on the ground: some are open and he can see plushes peeking out from them. Mostly animals, but also elves, humans, dwarves, Qunari.

He walks closer to one of the boxes and takes a plush: it’s a cute wolf, black with six red eyes total. A little unusual for a child toy, but it doesn’t look menacing and the craftsmanship is remarkable.

“Oh! Hello!”

He jumps, startled, and nearly drops the plush. A young woman - much younger than him - is standing near the door that leads to the storage room. She is smiling brightly and a bit shyly, her cheeks as red as her hair.

She is covered in paint stains. She has some even on her face marked by crimson _vallaslin_. She fidgets on the spot, curiosity in her big, golden eyes, and Solas clears his throat, gently putting the wolf back into the box.

“That’s one my favorites!” she says excitedly, then, not knowing how to interpret his stunned silence, she asks less loudly: “Umh… are you interested in a plush? I still have to tidy everything up and put the toys on the shelves, but if you have something particular in mind, just ask! I sew practically everything.”

“I…” Solas looks around and sees how inexpertly she has been repainting the walls. It’s clear she never did it before, but at least the color she chose is nice.

“The library that was here…” he starts, but feels bad, almost guilty, when the girl blushes and sad realization shines on her round face. She knows he isn’t here to buy one of her plushes.

“‘The Well’ closed. Mister Abelas was tired and decided to retire.” She walks quickly behind the counter and shows him the only plushes she put on the shelves back there: elves dressed in old armors and simple clothes, surrounded by aravels and trees. She sewed it all, with admirable care for the details and talent.

“This is clan Lavellan!” she explains, happiness and pride in her voice. Her cheeks are even redder than before. “My family. They stayed in the Free Marches when I came here to work, so I dedicated the shop to them.”

Despite everything, Solas smiles.

“You are quite talented.” he says with sincerity and the young woman almost bounces on her feet.

She is… very sweet.

“Also, those armors and clothes you sewed… Are they from the Dragon Age?”

She gasps and her eyes widen.

“They are! You recognized them immediately! Are you an historian?”

“An artist.” Solas chuckles. “But the Dragon Age interests me greatly.”

He places his bag on the floor and clasps his hands behind his back, studying the smiling plushes. He glances at the girl with a raised eyebrow and a bigger smile.

“What about you?”

“Well, I worked at the Conclave of Divine Justinia. Short internship, quite… explosive. But it wasn’t really my place.” she sighs, rubbing her neck. “Too much… Chantry, you know?”

He chuckles again and nods.

“I do, yes. But I meant your passion for the Dragon Age. Why does it interest you?”

“Oh, it’s just that… it sounds magical. It’s fascinating, full of magic and wonders, so it always intrigued me, since I was little.” She is playing with her hands, looking at the plushes of her family, and Solas makes an affirmative sound.

“Yes, it is one of the reasons I love it so much as well.”

The girl smiles at him, then her eyes go wide and she gasps. She leans on the counter to observe him better. Solas blushes, but doesn’t step back and lets her do her thing.

“Wait, could you be Solas? Mister Abelas told me about you!”

Well, that’s surprising.

“He… told you about me?”

“He left this for you!”

She disappears behind the counter and reappears with a green envelope in her hand. She gives it to him and Solas recognizes the handwriting: it’s definitely Abelas’, neat and small, so much it’s almost painful for the eyes.

_Solas,_

_the others and I need a break. We are going to move into another city to take some time for ourselves and think about the future._

_Scarlet is a good woman. I decided to give the shop to her. A heavy gift, since this place is half-forgotten and few people ever enter this alley. Still, she was happy and grateful to receive it and I respect her and her art. One needs a great amount of patience for something as slow and meticulous as sewing._

_I know this will be a shock for you, so I also gave her some of our oldest books. The most precious too, the ones you always asked to read. This way the new shop will feel familiar and you will have an excuse to visit her._

_She is a good woman. Lovely too. Don’t be an ass and do something right for once in your life, Mr. Fen’Harel._

_  
Abelas_

Solas grunts, pouting at the letter. Of course Abelas knew he was Fen’Harel all along.

He glances up at the girl. She has respectfully moved to the other side of the library to let him read alone; she is mixing paint in a bucket, right in front of a wall that needs to be recolored.

“So you are Scarlet.” he says, his smiling coming back to his lips. She turns around, flailing a little, and nods.

“Sorry!” she says sheepishly, offering him her hand. “I didn’t even introduce myself properly.”

She sees the fresh paint on her hand and groans, rubbing it on her already stained pants.

“It is alright. I am used to paint and colors.” he chuckles, taking it and shaking it. It’s warm and he notices how beautiful and small her fingers are compared to his.

He pushes that thought away, but just barely. The annoyance he felt when he first saw the new shop is gone, replaced by something he can’t quite give a name to.

He is smiling a lot, though. More than he has ever done in… years, probably.

“Let’s start again.” he says. “I am Solas.”

“And I am Scarlet.” She smiles too and her grip is strong and cheerful; she even shakes his hand up and down. “It’s a pleasure.”

An idea hits her and her mouth forms a cute ‘o’, before she excuses herself and runs to a nearby bookshelf. There is a smaller box near it, different from the others, and she opens it delicately, very slowly.

“Come here!” she says, motioning him to come closer. He does so and looks into the box: the books Abelas mentioned are all there, carefully wrapped in transparent, protective paper.

“Abelas left these here. You know, I was thinking about turning this place into a café or something like that. A place where people can read good books, spend time together, and buy some hand-made plushes.”

Solas blinks and looks at her. She doesn’t see him, too focused on the shiny volumes inside the box; there is a dreamy look on her face, sweet and innocent, and a blush tints Solas’ cheeks and ears red.

He fidgets, tugging at the threads sticking out of his sleeves, then says softly: “That sounds like a splendid idea. Very original too.”

She beams at him - and his heart races fast and hard at the sight - and exclaims: “You think so? Thank you!” She makes a surprised sound and frowns, thinking hard about something.

“I’ll have to change the sign outside.” she mumbles and Solas laughs, his face blushing even more when she grins at him.

“I could help you with that.” he blurts out before he can think about it. To be honest, there is no need to think about it: he wants to do it and he is relieved and happy when Scarlet babbles overwhelmed words of thanks.

“The walls too.” Solas looks around, hiding his smile behind a hand. “It is the first time you do something like this, right?”

She groans and swats his elbow, a gesture that surprises and makes fireworks spark in his heart at the same time.

“You can laugh if you want.” she mumbles, narrowing her eyes at him with a smirk. “I know it’s not great.”

“It could be… improved.” he admits with a snort. His expert eyes have already found the spots where the paint needs to be used again and the ones where she used it too much.

With the due hard work and care, this place could become even better than ‘The Well’. There are already a different air and mood inside the shop and Solas doesn’t find them bad now.

His thoughts are interrupted by loud thunder. He turns to the high windows facing the alley and curses.

“ _Fenedhis_.” He passes a hand over his face. Rain is pouring hard and relentless and he doesn’t even have an umbrella. Also, his clothes are way too light for a storm like that.

“You could stay here until the rain stops.” Scarlet offers kindly and he turns to her, taken aback.

She is smiling at him, her gentle golden eyes soothing his displeasure for the rain. The dimmed, distant sound of it is relaxing and Solas already knows he will come to this place as often as he can.

Her face lightens up and she whispers the next words as if they were a big secret: “I think I have some Antivan hot chocolate in the backroom. Really good stuff!”

Solas chuckles and nods, replying: “That would be great. Thank you.”

She is young and lively, full of warmth and sunlight, and he hopes - prays - this harsh city won’t be hard on her. There is innocence and tenderness in her, in her hobby, in her shop, in the way she wants to work and sell her cute sewed creations.

They sit at one of the tables, two matching cups of chocolate between them, and start talking.

They do that for hours, even after the rain has stopped. It’s the longest he has talked in this place: when ‘The Well’ was still here, he usually stayed in his corner, reading the books he wanted surrounded by almost complete silence.

This is different, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It’s _great_ and he discovers they have mutual interests, but she also knows things he never heard about before and says things he never stopped to think about.

He would stay here forever, but this time not because of the books and the knowledge and lost history contained in them.

After the storm, the sky gets dark again: night is approaching and his stomach grumbles loudly.

Scarlet giggles as he babbles a sheepish ‘sorry’, then he panics and invites her for dinner.

“There is… a nice restaurant not far from here.” he says, standing stiff and tense, face red. “We could go there. For dinner. If you want.”

Is he sweating? He probably is.  

She blushes, but her smile is kind and even a bit amused.

“I’d love that.” she says and Solas feels ten years younger. He lets out a relieved, euphoric sigh.

Before they leave, she takes the wolf plush he picked up before and gives it to him.

“Here. A gift for the first person who visited my shop.”

“But I want to pay for it!”

“You will pay for it by helping me paint the walls then.” she grins, offering him her hand. “Deal?”

Solas chuckles and takes her hand, holding the plush close to his chest.

“Deal.” he says and her hand feels warm and nice in his, as if it was always meant to be there.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from Tumblr! Damn, my first Modern!AU. Turning everything and everyone into modern concepts was SO MUCH FUN. I had a great time with this one.
> 
> Also, I can see Abelas being a sort of grumpy, but well-meaning individual. If you respect the rituals and accepts his alliance in Inquisition, he is quite civil and kind with the Inquisitor. For those interested, here is [Scarlet](http://lafaiette.tumblr.com/scarletlavellan).
> 
> If this becomes a multi-chaptered fic, please shoot me. You will probably have to, because this will become a multi-chaptered fic, I can feel it in my fluff-soaked bones.


End file.
